nadar hacia arriba
/nadaɾ aθja ariba/from spelling rules
To swim up in Spanish is nadar hacia arriba.
This phrase is used to describe moving through water in a direction that is higher than your current position.
Which one should you use?
While nadar hacia arriba is a literal way to describe moving upwards, you may also use nadar a la superficie when you specifically mean swimming up to reach the surface of the water.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the past tense 'swam up', you can use the preterite forms such as nadó hacia arriba for 'he/she/it swam up' or nadé hacia arriba for 'I swam up'.
Did you know?
- The word arriba is a linguistic fossil that originally described being 'at the bank' or 'to the coast' of a river.
Examples in context
- Debes nadar hacia arriba para llegar a la superficieYou should swim up to reach the surface
- Por favor, sube nadando hasta la orillaPlease swim up to the shore
- Debes nadar hacia arriba y salir por el lado izquierdoYou must swim up and exit on the left side
- El pez comenzó a nadar hacia arriba.The fish began to swim up.
- Debes nadar hacia arriba para alcanzar la superficie.You must swim up to reach the surface.
- Vimos a la tortuga nadar hacia arriba.We saw the turtle swim up.
Example conversation
Two scuba divers are observing marine life in the ocean.
- JavierMira, la manta raya está empezando a nadar hacia arriba.Look, the manta ray is starting to swim up.
- ElenaEs increíble verla nadar hacia arriba tan rápido.It is incredible to see her swim up so fast.
- JavierElena, ¿puedes ver su sombra bajo la luz?Elena, can you see her shadow under the light?
- ElenaSí, Javier, la veo perfectamente.Yes, Javier, I see her perfectly.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries arriba, hacia, nadar, CC BY-SA 4.0.
